Alejandro Peña Prieto, the Squire Patton Boggs managing partner for the Dominican Republic and the firm’s Latin America practice leader, has been appointed the new president of ASIEX (the Asociación Dominicana de Empresas de Inversión Extranjera, or Dominican Association of Foreign Investment Companies) along with a new Board of Directors for a two-year term, 2022 – 2023.
ASIEX is a non-profit institution, founded in 1985, dedicated to promoting and fostering a good business climate and the development of sustainable investments in the Dominican Republic. It represents the sector that brings together foreign investment companies in the Dominican Republic. The ASIEX membership includes more than 70 multinational companies based in the country, representing around $20 billion dollars of investment in the Dominican Republic.
At the swearing-in ceremony in Santo Domingo on 12 May, Mr. Peña Prieto thanked the outgoing president, Ana Figuereido, the CEO of Altice Dominicana, for her excellent work and contributions to ASIEX.
“The Dominican Republic can be considered a success story when it comes to attracting foreign direct investment,” said Mr. Peña Prieto. “According to the latest report of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), despite the COVID-19 pandemic, in 2021 our country managed to attract more than $3 billion dollars in foreign direct investment, remaining the main recipient of foreign direct investment in the entire region.”
He acknowledged the contribution to the economy from ASIEX member companies in terms of job creation, transfer of knowledge, best practices and cutting-edge technology, as well as the efforts of the administration of President Luis Abinader to strengthen the legal security of investments, increase levels of transparency, eliminate unnecessary bureaucratic obstacles and promote the benefits of the Dominican Republic as an investment destination.
Mr. Peña Prieto reaffirmed the commitment of ASIEX to work collaboratively particularly in the three fundamental areas it has concentrated its activity so far: (i) regulatory strengthening for the promotion of investment and reinvestment; (ii) strengthening and protection of existing investment and promotion of new investments; and (iii) transfer of knowledge and best practices.
“Within the framework of these three axes, the ASIEX Board will continue to promote the modernisation of the country's legal system applicable to investments, with the aim of making it more agile and ensuring that it provides greater guarantees and predictability to investments, in particular with regard to local governments. We will also seek to promote the creation of a national strategy for the promotion of investment and reinvestment, so that the country can have short, medium and long-term planning that addresses actions and responses to current investment requirements.”
Mr. Peña Prieto added that, with the aim of promoting new investments, ASIEX “will seek to support the public-private efforts that have been developed, aimed at identifying the Dominican Republic as a favourable destination for "nearshoring", among which is the recent launch of the Alliance for Development in Democracy with the governments of Panama and Costa Rica, as well as the creation by business representatives from the three countries of a business council in the United States, with the objective of identifying and advocating for the development of trade and investment opportunities between our respective countries.”